It’s official. Nome’s City Council has certified this week’s election, confirming all early winners — including Stan Andersen, who held onto his City Council seat despite a close race.

“Councilman Andersen avoided a runoff by eight votes,” said City Manager Tom Moran. “If there had been eight fewer votes for Mr. Andersen, it would have been in a runoff in November. But he avoided that.”

Moran took council members through the official results at a special meeting Thursday. He said the city had to send 10 questioned ballots to the State Office of Elections before confirming Andersen’s victory.

That’s because the City of Nome requires elected candidates to win by a plurality of votes. So even though the early, unofficial results showed Andersen well ahead of opponents Sarah Swartz and Chuck Wheeler, the incumbent still had to earn 50 percent of the vote plus one.

The state verified that only two of the 10 questioned ballots should be counted. And with everything tallied, Andersen had the plurality. He’ll keep City Council Seat D for another 3 years.

Old St. Joe’s on election day. Photo: Emily Russell, KNOM.

The city’s other races may not have been as close, but they, too, were certified at yesterday’s meeting.

New Mayor Richard Beneville beat incumbent Denise Michels with 61 percent of the vote. Lew Tobin — another newcomer — won City Council Seat C, defeating Randy Pomeranz with nearly 59 percent of the vote. For the school board, Nancy Mendenhall earned more than 65 percent of the vote, claiming Seat C over John Tidwell. And with all three running unopposed, Keith Conger will join the school board while Pat Knodel and Dave Barron maintain their spots on the utility board.

The Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation had a race on the ballot as well. But that spot only required the winner to take 40 percent of the vote plus one. Patrick Johanson earned more than 50 percent, defeating incumbent Don Stiles to serve as Nome’s community representative on the NSEDC board.

All in all, Moran said voter turnout came to nearly 26 percent.

“Six hundred and thirty-nine ballots were issued, and all 639 ballots were accounted for,” he said. “We got it to the very, very vote. It took us until [Wednesday] at about 4:30 p.m., but we got every single vote accounted for.”

Mendenhall and Conger will assume their new roles at the school board’s meeting on Tuesday — the same day Tobin formally joins the City Council. Beneville was sworn in as mayor on Friday afternoon.

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/10/08/city-council-confirms-election-winners-andersen-narrowly-avoids-runoff/feed/118919Unofficial Results Reveal Richard Beneville as Nome’s New Mayorhttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/10/07/unofficial-results-reveal-richard-beneville-as-nomes-new-mayor/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/10/07/unofficial-results-reveal-richard-beneville-as-nomes-new-mayor/#commentsWed, 07 Oct 2015 09:04:34 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=18867With the polls closed and preliminary results in, it looks like Nome will be saying "Hello Central" to a new mayor — and to new members of the school board, City Council, and the Norton Sound Economic Development Council.]]>http://www.knom.org/wp-audio/2015/10/2015.10.07%20Hello%20Central!%20pkg.mp3

With the polls closed and preliminary results in, it looks like Nome will be saying “Hello Central” to a new mayor. With 352 votes for Richard Beneville and 229 for Denise Michels, Beneville will replace Michels, who has held the job since 2003.

So how does it feel to be Nome’s new mayor? Over the phone, Beneville, who was out of town and hadn’t heard the results yet, was surprised. “Oh, wow,” he exclaimed upon hearing the news. “Well, that’s very heartening. I’m very happy.”

Beneville admitted that he was somewhat speechless, which, he said, doesn’t happen very often. While most associate him with his outspoken nature and his frequent use of his coined catch phrase, “Hello Central,” Beneville has been part of the Nome community for decades, as a recent retiree from the community schools program and a longtime operator of a local tour company.

Local ballot caster Valerie Fuller says Beneville’s commitment to Nome shines through in his work.

“I’ve had some experience working with him in the community and really like his involvement … and the passion he has for the community,” Fuller said.

Along with electing a new mayor, both the City Council and the school board will see some fresh faces after yesterday’s election. For Seat C on Nome’s City Council, Lew Tobin defeated Randy Pomeranz, who held the seat for several years. Nancy Mendenhall defeated John Tidwell for Seat C on the school board, replacing outgoing president Betsy Brennan. Keith Conger, who ran unopposed, will fill Seat D on the school board.

Pat Knodel and David Barron, both of whom ran unopposed, will remain on the utility board. In a tight race for the Norton Sound Economic Development Council, unofficial results reveal Patrick Johanson squeezed by current board member and opponent Don Stiles, with 299 to 275 votes.

That wasn’t the only tight race of the night. Chuck Wheeler and Sarah Swartz were challenging current council member Stan Andersen for Seat D on the City Council. While Anderson’s 289 votes are more than Wheeler’s 83 votes and Swartz’s 194 votes combined, 16 additional question ballots must be confirmed by the state before the election is decided.City Manager Tom Moran said they expected this to be a close race and will have to wait for results from the State Office of Elections.

Official results from all the races will be announced at Nome’s City Council chambers this Thursday at noon.

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/10/07/unofficial-results-reveal-richard-beneville-as-nomes-new-mayor/feed/518867City Council Seat C: Tobin Sees a ‘Burst’ of Arctic Attention, Incumbent Pomeranz Focuses on Cost of Livinghttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/09/28/city-council-seat-c-tobin-sees-a-burst-of-arctic-attention-incumbent-pomeranz-focuses-on-cost-of-living/
Mon, 28 Sep 2015 22:44:11 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=18689Nome's port, new museum, and future expansion are the focus of the two candidates for Nome City Council Seat C.]]>http://www.knom.org/wp-audio/2015/09/2015-09-28-NCC-Seat-C.mp3

Nome’s Oct. 6 city election is just a week away, and beyond voting for mayor, school and utility boards, and a local representative on the NSEDC board, voters will also decide who will fill two seats on the city council for the next three years.

For Nome City Council Seat C, two candidates are vying for the three-year term: incumbent Randy Pomeranz and challenger Lew Tobin.

Tobin is a longtime Nome resident but first-time office seeker, and a member of Nome Rotary. He recently retired as Kawerak’s Vocational Training Specialist.

Tobin said the world is turning to the Arctic, and he wants to help shape the pivotal years to come.

“I think it’s going to be a struggle, and I want to be a part of helping build our awareness of the Arctic, what Nome has to offer, even the new museum and the tourists coming in,” he said. “Nome is about to experience quite a burst. The state … is in a big financial problem, and I’m not sure we’ll get much support from them. But everything else looks really positive, and I hope to make this as positive a thing as possible and to be able to work with the rest of the country and the rest of the city so that everybody benefits.”

Randy Pomeranz is the Seat C incumbent. He’s been on the city council for 15 years and is seeking his sixth term. Pomeranz said the past decade and a half has seen “community unity” manifested in the progress of the Richard Foster Building (the “new musuem” Tobin alluded to). He said he also wants to focus on Nome’s port, as well as the cost of living.

“Nome is right on the edge of possibly making some big steps forward with the deep draft port,’ Pomeranz said. “We don’t want to burden the taxpayers with another bill, so yeah, we are looking at other partnerships to get out costs down.”

Pomeranz said he wants to focus on Nome’s high living costs should he win another term. “Some of the other things we’d like to see are, keep our property taxes down for people in town, so people aren’t moving out, and trying to keep the town affordable to live in.”

Voters go to the polls in just one week. Local elections happen statewide on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

]]>18689Nome Council Hires New Clerk, Rejects City Hall Remodel, Questions Police Vehicle Procurementhttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/09/15/nome-council-hires-new-clerk-rejects-city-hall-remodel-questions-police-vehicle-procurement/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/09/15/nome-council-hires-new-clerk-rejects-city-hall-remodel-questions-police-vehicle-procurement/#commentsTue, 15 Sep 2015 23:54:08 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=18411The Nome City Council selected a new city clerk, rejected an overhaul facelift for city hall, and questioned a recent vehicle procurement by the Nome Police Department.]]>http://www.knom.org/wp-audio/2015/09/2015-09-15-city-council.mp3

Nome’s new city manager led the city council through a meeting approving a new clerk and a slew of other housekeeping issues ahead of the October municipal election, but the council rejected one major project: a bid to remodel city hall.

“Mr. Hammond’s been in town for about five years. His most current position was head of community planning and development at Kawerak,” Moran said of the recommended candidate for the city clerk position.

“The former city manager and personnel director were very happy to extend him a contract based on the interview. I think that his resume and his job history speak for themselves,” Moran added.

Hammond’s two-year contract comes with an annual salary of $75,000. The council unanimously approved the contract.

With a new city manager and city clerk, the council moved through some housekeeping work, like authorizing both Moran and Hammond to sign checks and other city agreements, and appointing job duties for the October election, before taking up a nearly $44,000 contract to re-design city hall’s front office.

The resolution before the council was awarded to the lowest bidder, Wasilla-based Wolverine Supply, but only after a last-minute fax from the company cut its original bid of $100,000 by more than half. That bid modification undercut the second low bidder—local contractor and city council member Randy Pomeranz of Pomeranz Construction—by just $200.

Council member Stan Andersen questioned the need to spend so much money on the project, and the razor-thin margin that would send the job to a MatSu company.

“What are we getting for the $50,000?” Andersen asked. “Are the people really going to be served by that? And if it this is going, for $200, why wouldn’t we do it locally?”

Keeping the job local would require a change to the resolution at hand, and Andersen quickly offered one.

“I’ll make a motion that we amend this, to put in Pomeranz Construction for $43,900,” he said.

Council member Jerald Brown seconded the motion (“for discussion purposes,” he noted), and followed up with questions about the city’s local vendor preference. Brown asked if that preference would be apply in this case, potentially swinging the contract to Pomeranz.

City manager Moran checked as the council debated amending the issue there and then, or table it for consideration down the road. The question led to some discussion among the council—with Pomeranz vocally abstaining due to the conflict of interest for his business—but in the end, it was all for naught: the council ultimately rejected the project outright, meaning no contract to offer to anyone, and no facelift for city hall.

Utility manager John Handeland next gave an update to the council, noting that he’s been spending extra time working to get power to the Richard Foster Building after an electrical subcontractor, Megawatt Electric, miscalculated the wiring needs of the new building and failed to purchase a transformer for the project.

“The specifications as they were put out said to coordinate with the local utility,” Handeland explained. “Megawatt had some changes in personnel and somehow it slipped through the cracks. The oversight has been addressed and the wire is coming.” Handeland said a transformer is on the next barge.

Council member Stan Andersen clarified the purchase of three new Ford Explorers was approved by former city manager Josie Bahnke before she left office, and with each vehicle coming in below the $40,000 mark, none of the purchases required council approval.

With a new city manager and city clerk, the question is now, who will be on the council—and in the mayor’s seat—come October? Two council seats are on the city’s October ballot, as is the office of mayor and positions on the utility and school boards.

A final list of candidates for Nome’s city election is expected Tuesday.

Questioning Nome’s budding marijuana ordinances gave way to discussions on port expansion at the City Council’s latest meeting.

Citizens comments saw Nome resident Tim Smith take the podium to urge the council to reject the city’s proposed marijuana ordinances. After months of drafts and tweaking, the council formally took the new rules under consideration, but a public hearing will be required before a final passage.

Smith didn’t take issue with many aspects of the ordinance, but did single out sections he says the city of Nome can’t hope to enforce, including sections that seek to limit or outright ban transporting marijuana to Nome for manufacture or sale within city limits.

Nome’s draft marijuana laws. Image: City of Nome. (Click for PDF)

Smith said the proposed limits on a now-legal drug like marijuana are unconstitutionally broad and restrictive.

“They’ve said very clear[ly] that you need to show a compelling public interest before you can restrict a citizen’s rights. And I don’t think the city can do that in this case,” Smith said. “It’s a very, very sticky thing when the government starts telling people they can’t use or consume legal substances.”

Council member Randy Pomeranz said he wants City Attorney Brooks Chandler to review the proposed ordinance before a final vote, with Smith’s objections in mind.

“Could we have Brooks take a look at these recommendations by Mr. Smith,” Pomeranz asked, “and see if he could come back with a little bit of explanation on some of these?”

The comment period over, the council moved rapidly through unfinished business, approving a new ordinance prohibiting overnight camping on city property, and another removing the utility as a regulator of trucked water. The council then approved an array of half a dozen ordinances on a “first look” basis, ranging from new noise limits to prohibitions on discharging firearms in city limits, to utility budgets and tariff increase. There was little pause for questions or comments, but in keeping with the utility’s efforts to increase revenue, utility manager John Handeland said the utility board will be laying the groundwork to re-assess the electricity rates charged to so-called “rural” customers outside city limits.

The conversation then shifted to ports, and council member Stan Andersen said, in the wake of several high-profile visits to rural Alaska this summer, the city needs to do more to attract visitors.

Mayor Denise Michels responded that Nome has in fact been welcoming important guests, with many focused on the potential for a deep-draft Arctic port. She says just Monday that Colonel Michael Brooks—the new Alaska District Commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—was in town to discuss the Army Corps’ planned port expansion in Nome. Port project manager Joy Baker says more are on the way before the brief summer season ends.

“We do need to get more folks to come to Nome,” Baker said, cautioning that any visitors “are obviously going to visit other locations in then Arctic as well. Myself, the mayor, the city manager are in constant communication with a variety folks at various levels in the state, federal government, private industry, and our legislators, pushing the development of the Arctic facility at Nome.”

Baker and Mayor Michels both point to a November meeting in Washington, D.C. for the next move on Nome’s port expansion. That’s when the Corps’ draft plan will officially be delivered for review—before moving on to Civil Works Review Board and, eventually, going to Congress to look for funding.

Until then, Baker said work continues apace at the port on the Middle Dock expansion. She said the contractor drove the last sheet pile last week and is backfilling the construction now.

“Things have gone very well with this project, mother nature has been very good to these guys,” Baker said. “We expect the majority of the project to be complete by freeze up. It’ll increase our capacity by 50 percent, and we’re very happy it’s going to be in service next summer.”

]]>17802Planning Commission Pushes for Vacant Building Registry in Nomehttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/06/19/planning-commission-pushes-for-vacant-building-registry-in-nome/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/06/19/planning-commission-pushes-for-vacant-building-registry-in-nome/#commentsFri, 19 Jun 2015 22:09:46 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=16890Vacant properties, business "grandfathering," and annexation were among the topics addressed during joint work sessions of the city council and planning commission last week.]]>

Handling vacant properties, grandfathering in a business, and city annexation were just a few of the topics considered during joint work sessions of the Nome City Council and the Planning Commission this week.

Most discussed was the commission’s recommendation to create a registry of vacant properties for the city, alongside a list of maintenance requirements for property owners.

With fully one third of the buildings in Nome vacant, City Planner Eileen Bechtol said dealing with abandoned structures is the number one request from the public after a citywide survey last August.

Building inspector Greg Smith says the registry is also about public safety.

The city needs “maintenance and security requirements in order to protect the public, which we don’t have on the books anywhere,” Smith said.

“And the police are responding more and more to young kids, going into vacant buildings, playing with matches … we got a problem!”

Smith said a vacant property registry would give the city a list of who to contact for any issues that might come up involving abandoned buildings, and also lay out and maintenance regulations and, for example, what a property owner would be responsible after a fire in or near one of the derelict structures. Smith said similar registries have been used successfully in other Alaska communities.

The planning commission’s docket included additional language that and could fill in some gaps in Nome’s city code, Smith said. “It also goes into definitions of junk, debris, how you can leave a lot … stuff we don’t have.”

Council members countered that it’s tricky business to define “junk” or “debris” in a town like Nome. Some said the new rules could be incentives to clean up properties or even leverage favorable property tax rates on structures that aren’t abandoned.

Council member Randy Pomeranz said it’s not so simple.

“We as a community are kind of stuck here, you know, we all want to “new” forward, but got so much old stuff to deal with,”Pomeranz said. “I think [City Clerk] Tom [Moran] has a good idea with some of the incentives to try to get rid of some of the old and get some new, but I think there’s a lot of people that, those are treasures.”

The vacant building registry was just a first step, the start of a conversation, at the meeting; so, too, was similar to talk of strengthening the city’s rules on grandfathering property to comply with the community’s relatively new zoning laws established in 2007.

Finally came a discussion on city annexation. Should the city consider—and dedicated resources toward looking into—the pros and cons of annexing property outside current city limits?

Countless questions were raised about how far out the city would extend: to the Snake River, about seven miles west of central Nome? Or out to Banner Creek, some 35 miles north of town? And just what kind of services—and infrastructure—could the city actually afford to extend to those places?

Council and commission members also asked just how much would those residents further afield have to pay for things like school busses, trash pickup, plumbing, and more.

City Manager Josie Bahnke says the questions are valid, but annexation would also allow residents in those communities outside the city to have a voice in the community.

“A lot of the folks I talk to in the Dexter [and] Banner Creek area, they want to be able to be active in the school board, they want to have a voice at this table, at this podium, to share concerns about whether it’s road maintenance or education or other city services,” Bahnke said.

Council member Louie Green Sr. said those people already “participate” in those community decisions when they pay sales tax.

While much of the planning commission’s work is only considered a preliminary step to any kind of official ordinances or policies, several of the issues—including the vacant lot registry—will officially go before the city council at their meeting on Monday, June 22.

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/06/19/planning-commission-pushes-for-vacant-building-registry-in-nome/feed/116890Property Tax Cut for Nome? City Council Mulls Mill Rate Drop During Budget Discussionhttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/05/27/property-tax-cut-for-nome-city-council-mulls-mill-rate-drop-during-budget-discussion/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/05/27/property-tax-cut-for-nome-city-council-mulls-mill-rate-drop-during-budget-discussion/#commentsWed, 27 May 2015 22:48:42 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=16551The Nome City Council is considering a drop in property taxes, down to 11 mills, a tax break valued at more than $275,000.]]>

Could Nome property taxes go down? At last week’s city council work session on draft budgets for the new fiscal year, Nome City Manager Josie Bahnke told the council there are few fiscal surprises when it comes to the coming year, and overall, Nome is in good financial shape.

“There’s nothing really that remarkable about this budget,” Bahnke said. “I guess that’s the message, our ship is moving forward, we’re all paddling very hard, and we’re doing a great job.”

Good enough, some council members concluded, to entertain the idea in a drop in property taxes. The proposed drop be down to 11 mills (down from 12), a tax break valued at $275,219 on the city’s ledgers. The mill rate is a percentage of a given piece of property’s dollar value, as assessed by the city and collected as property tax. In the past year, with a mill rate of 12, the City of Nome collected roughly $3.06 million in property taxes

“We’re looking at a potential finish [in the black] this year,” said council member Randy Pomeranz. “I would say I’d like to see us drop down to at least 11, for the mill [rate]. And the other thing I’d like to explore is that preschool teacher situation.”

Funding the pre-K job was left “in the parking lot,” however, in favor of discussing possibilities for increasing revenue should the property tax rate drop. Along with a list of possible fee increases, including ambulance calls and various administrative and facility fees, City Manager Bahnke gave just one example of where a small rate increase could bring in extra cash: the city land fill.

“If we were to look at raising anything, I would make sure it is tied to a value of service. For example, our landfill bills are at $12.50 a month to have the privilege of putting trash in the landfill. And that’s been since 1998. And if we were to raise it to $15, for example, the city could realize another $100,000 [in revenue].”

But all the talk of property tax cuts, school funding, and fees was just that—talk. The council will meet for one more work session on the city’s budget, Thursday night at 7 p.m., to take another look at city finances before submitting a final budget.

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/05/27/property-tax-cut-for-nome-city-council-mulls-mill-rate-drop-during-budget-discussion/feed/116551Marijuana Laws, Rate Hikes for Utility and Port at City Councilhttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/01/28/changing-marijuana-laws-rate-hikes-for-utility-and-port-at-city-council/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/01/28/changing-marijuana-laws-rate-hikes-for-utility-and-port-at-city-council/#commentsThu, 29 Jan 2015 01:13:47 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=14190Amid discussions of the still-forming city marijuana laws, the Nome City Council also approved an electricity rate hike and operating budget for the city utility.]]>http://www.knom.org/wp-audio/2015/01/2015-01-28-NCC-Pot-laws.mp3

Preparing for legal marijuana, the Nome City Council wants to get ahead of the state’s changing laws, and at Monday’s council meeting Police Chief John Papasodora offered an outline on how to do just that.

“We have two definite sections or stages this has to go through,” the chief outlined for the council. “The first is, how are we going to respond to recreational use. The second is, how are we going to respond to the commercialization, the commercial sale and cultivation.”

Decriminalization of marijuana will hit Alaska in about a month, on Feb. 24, a date set when voters approved a November ballot initiative that called for making the drug legal for anyone over the age of 21. The initiative also clears the way for the eventual legal cultivation and sale of the drug statewide, likely before the end of the year. Chief Papasodora presented the council with a long list suggestions for Nome’s still-developing marijuana laws, most of which were modeled on the city’s existing laws on alcohol. Most focused on limitations on use of marijuana outside the home, prohibiting the use of the drug (much like alcohol) in a public place, or transporting the drug in a vehicle. Papasodora also called for increasing fines to $300 for “open container” violations for both drugs; currently, Nome city code assesses a fine of $100 for similar alcohol violations.

But what about edible marijuana products, and eventually, legal marijuana sales in Nome? And could Nome, as some communities are contemplating, use the “local option” to opt our of marijuana sales in city limits? The chief said, in the end, it will be up to the council to decide.

“The sooner that we act on it, and get our ducks in a row and know how we’re going to approach it from a law enforcement standpoint, we can help modify or monitor conduct to try to bring it within the bounds of what’s acceptable for the city,” Papasodora concluded.

“You just need to decide what the limits are going to be,” he said to the council.

The full list of recommendations from Chief Papasodora can be read here.

The full memo from Nome Police Chief John Papasodora on Nome’s proposed marijuana laws. Image: City of Nome. (Click for PDF file.)

There’s no firm date on when any proposal will be ready for the public to weigh in on, but council member Randy Pomeranz spoke for the council when he said existing liquor laws are the right place to start.

“I think we need to bring it before the public, and I think the chief has got a great idea in just following the alcohol ordinances, it makes perfect sense,” Pomeranz said.

Switching to other business, the council approved a six-month electricity rate increase from Nome Joint Utility. The first rate increase in 20 years, the price will jump by two cents per kilowatt-hour through the end of June, making the new rate roughly $0.19/kWh to $0.20/kWh for most households. Rates will automatically fall back to the previous levels unless a new rate is approved.

The council also passed an operating budget for the utility, one that leaves it running a deficit of more than $87,460. That deficit came alongside updates from Utility Manager John Handeland that some construction projects could demand more money for completion, including the integration of the Banner Wind Farm, at a cost of roughly half a million dollars. Handeland said those project costs could likely be covered by shifting around other project funds, but with the utility in the red, new expenses popping up, and $2.2 million in city credit on the line, council members renewed calls to get a look at the utility’s cash flow.

At the close of the meeting, the council heard from Port Commission member Charlie Lean, who thanked the council for considering a five percent hike for the port tariff.

“Our profit margin is shrinking over the last three years,” Lean said. “There’s a need for us to have some money, and we don’t want to come to [the council] going ‘we’re broke and we need a million dollars.’ So we have to have a little contingency there.”

Members of the public can weigh in on the port tariff hike—before the city council votes on it—at their next meeting on Feb. 9.

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/01/28/changing-marijuana-laws-rate-hikes-for-utility-and-port-at-city-council/feed/214190With New Museum/Library on Budget, City Council Discusses Utility Loans, NSEDC Donationshttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/01/14/with-new-museumlibrary-on-budget-city-council-discusses-utility-loans-nsedc-donations/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/01/14/with-new-museumlibrary-on-budget-city-council-discusses-utility-loans-nsedc-donations/#commentsThu, 15 Jan 2015 00:27:01 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=13986On budget with the city's new museum, library, and cultural center, the City Council addressed the utility's loans before discussing how to spend an NSEDC donation and how to eventually deal with legal marijuana sales.]]>http://www.knom.org/wp-audio/2015/01/2015-01-14-City-Council-Approvals.mp3

It was a night of approvals at the Nome City Council meeting Monday, advancing the latest for the city’s new museum and library building as well as loans for the utility, but leaving unanswered questions ranging from legal marijuana sales in city limits, to just what to do with an extra $50,000 in community benefit shares from NSEDC.

The council approved a $10.5 million price tag for the city’s new library, museum, and Kawerak cultural center known as the Richard Foster Building. The project is on budget—in fact, the cost is down from an earlier estimate of over $12 million—and the price covers materials, architecture, engineering, permitting, and more. But one item not covered in that price is humidity control for exhibits. It’s something council member Louie Green Sr. said should be part of the building, but something council member Randy Pomeranz said the council decided to cut.

“You’d have to have [that],” Green said, “ivory carvings and stuff like that has to stay in a pretty [controlled] environment.”

“We had taken it out,” Pomeranz responded, “so it’s kind of new to the forefront again.”

It’s a component that could still happen, with roughly $1.6 million as yet unspent for the museum for storage and exhibits, as well as about a half million dollars in contingency funding. Project managers with contractor ASRC SKW Eskimos, Inc. said at Monday’s meeting they are drafting plans on how to use the extra funds, and humidity controls is on the list.

Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation is pledging $150,000 for community projects in each NSEDC member community as part of its annual Community Benefits Share, and that’s $50,000 more than the council had expected. Sue Steinacher with the Nome Emergency Shelter Team was quick to ask for a chunk of the extra money.

“You have been a tremendous supporter of NEST, and you’ve given us $10,000 out of your May budget every year since we got going. And then, when NSEDC started giving the city money, we also would make a request at that point for $20,000, out of which you would give us $10,000,” she said to the council during public comment. “Now I found we didn’t get any money out of the May budget, that it’s being deferred to this NSEDC funds. Given that you find yourself with an extra $50,000, I would like to put in a plug that you maintain the level of $20,000 funding that we’ve gotten from you in the past.”

As mandated by the terms of the NSEDC benefit shares, which requires the funds be dispersed only after going through a public process at the municipal level, the city will take additional proposals from the public for project ideas in the coming weeks.

Shifting gears, the council looked at the ongoing financial issues at the city utility, and its $2.2 million line of credit that’s been used to pay for everything from fuel bills to loans to construction projects. The council unanimously approved changes to two utility loans—one for $1.6 million and another for $1.8 million—meant to recoup costs for water and sewer projects already completed. The loans are essentially unchanged, only the source of the funds is different; both loans are now being issued by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. But changing horses midstream on multi-million dollar loans made council member Matt Culley increasingly nervous.

“We’ve asked for a few things,” from the utility to make financial judgements, Culley said, including inquiries on “cash flow, who owes what, where’s it at, where’s it going … we need to know that cash flow.”

Culley said, with changes to the utility’s credit agreement with the city having already been made once before, he doesn’t want to alter the city’s deal with the utility any further.

“I’ve got to say, I will go on record to say I will not approve any more money going to NJUS on this, on any more surprises.”

To that end, council member Gerald Brown proposed a subcommittee, made up of members from the utility board and the city council, to look at the idea of folding the utility’s accounting system into the city’s.

“I don’t think it’s necessary to really air all the rumored dirty laundry at the council meetings,” Brown said. “We can determine more of the facts first, and the truth of the matter, in a smaller setting.”

Monday’s meeting ended with a question: how should the city of Nome prepare for the impending legalization of marijuana, specifically, if and when the state’s regulations permit legal sales? It was a conversation council member Stan Andersen said needs to happen with the community, and the police chief, before lawmakers in Juneau make the decision for them.

“I think the Chief [John Papasodora] should know sooner or later probably which way the council is leaning when it comes to legalizing the sale of pot. I don’t think we should wait for the legislature to start making up our minds what we’re going to do, we should give an indication of what we’re doing.”

City Manager Josie Bahnke recommended the council wait to meet with the city attorney before deciding on a way forward when it comes to legal pot sales in Nome.

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/01/14/with-new-museumlibrary-on-budget-city-council-discusses-utility-loans-nsedc-donations/feed/113986Back to Work on Our Studioshttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/11/25/back-to-work-on-our-studios/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/11/25/back-to-work-on-our-studios/#commentsWed, 26 Nov 2014 01:16:57 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=13219As the holidays approach, work is again moving forward with our studios expansion and renovation project, The Tom and Florence Busch Digital Studios.]]>

One of the myriad challenges of living in sub-Arctic, rural Alaska is building construction.

With a relatively tiny pool of skilled construction crews, carpenters, and electricians, it can be difficult to avoid delays — oftentimes, unexpected ones — when creating new structures, even in the hub city of Nome (KNOM’s hometown). That’s definitely the case with our digital studios expansion project, although we’re heartened to report that, as the holidays approach, work is once again moving forward.

The photos above and below show the state of our Tom and Florence Busch Digital Studios as of mid-November. After some unanticipated construction delays in the late summer and early autumn that were beyond our control, carpenters David Booth and Randy Pomeranz (pictured) have been back at it. Among the most recent additions to the construction (as seen in the pictures) are highly energy-efficient LED lights, window sills, and soundproofing (still under plastic) for each studio room door.

As you may know, our studio expansion will give us a facility that’s not only larger but also, most crucially, more modern, easily-repaired and cost-efficient than before. For more details, we’d encourage you to explore our Digital Studios page on this website.

As of mid-November, our available funds for the project (including grants and pledges) stand at $702,177, slightly more than two-thirds of our overall project estimate of $1 million. Thanks so much to everyone whose support is making our future studios possible!